Analysts Predict March Inflation to Drop to 16.52%

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian government is targeting an estimated $55.2 billion in oil and gas investments by 2030, according to the Special Adviser to the President Bola Tinubu on Energy, Mrs Olu Verheijen. She said the government has wrapped up a series of strategic engagements with 15 leading international and independent oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria. The President’s aide recently organised sessions in Lagos and Abuja in partnership with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to review ways to improve the sector and address the nation’s revenue emergency whilst contributing to stabilising Nigeria’s economy. Involved in

By Aduragbemi Omiyale A new Code of Conduct for Approved Persons of Trading License Holders, otherwise known as stockbrokers, has been introduced by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Regulation Limited (NGX RegCo). It was disclosed that the ethical guideline was designed to ensure professionals dealing with the trading of shares at NGX Limited follow high standards. Furthermore, it highlights the expected standards and values that Approved Persons must display at all times when conducting their businesses at all times. The idea of the code of conduct for stockbrokers, according to the regulator, is to deepen the market and foster professionalism, integrity,

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) kicked off the first trading session in the last week of the third quarter of the year on a negative note, with the key performance indices going down by 0.66 per cent on Monday. This was partly caused by the reaction of investors to the 30 Kobo interim dividend declaration of the board of Access Holdings Plc. A few days ago, its peer, UBA Plc, raised its interim dividend payment by 150 per cent to 50 Kobo and it was expected that Access Holdings would follow the same path. However, the company disappointed

By Adedapo Adesanya The Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu, has called for collective efforts to shape the energy sector in Nigeria, noting that no meaningful economic growth can be achieved without it. Mr Adelabu said this at the Nigeria Energy 2023 leadership summit recently held in Lagos, with the theme Unlocking new value with reforms, investments, and technology which saw in attendance industry leaders. The Minister said, “Energy is the lifeblood of any modern economy of which Nigeria is no exception. No meaningful economic growth or industrial development can be achieved without energy. “We can be talking of potential

By Dipo Olowookere At least one person has been confirmed dead when a building caved in on Thursday afternoon in Ilasamaja area of Lagos State. Reports say no fewer than 15 persons have been pulled out from the rumble by different agencies carrying out rescue operations at the scene. Eyewitnesses say the 3-storey building still under construction collapsed at about 2.57pm today. It was learnt that the property, located on Abimbola Street in Ilasa, was earlier marked for demolition by state government officials, but works allegedly resumed at the site later on. As at Thursday night, rescue operations were still

By Adedapo Adesanya The trading of unlisted securities at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Tuesday was bearish as a result of the 1.61 per cent recorded at the session. This trimmed the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 12.38 points to 756.04 points from 768.42 points recorded at the previous session. It also reduced the market capitalisation of the bourse by N8.8 billion yesterday to N537.40 billion from N546.20 billion it ended on Monday. Business Post reports that the loss posted by the unlisted securities market was caused by the decline in the prices of Central Securities Clearing

By Aduragbemi Omiyale A leading brewery company, Guinness Nigeria Plc, has reacted to reports in some quarters of the media that it was planning to shut down its operations over the foreign exchange (FX) crisis in the country. Though it acknowledged that the forex liquidity squeeze in Nigeria was affecting business operations in the country, it was not planning to leave because of that. In a statement on Wednesday, the beer maker said it would remain in Nigeria, which is unarguably its biggest market in Africa, and find its way around the FX shortages the nation was battling with. Read

By Adedapo Adesanya The Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc ensured that the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange got no succour as it witnessed a continued stay in the negative territory on Tuesday, November 3. On Monday, the unlisted securities market witnessed the presence of the bears and on Tuesday, CSCS Plc ensured that the status quo was maintained as its equities suffered a loss of 54 kobo or 3.8 per cent to settle at N13.51 per share in contrast to N14.05 per share it previously traded. This contributed to the 0.51 per cent decline printed by the market capitalisation

By Adedapo Adesanya The parent company of Facebook and Instagram, Meta, has agreed to pay $725 million to settle a long-running lawsuit that accused the social network of allowing third parties, including Cambridge Analytica, of accessing users’ private data. The proposed settlement is the largest recovery ever achieved in a data privacy class action, and the most Facebook has ever paid to resolve a private class action. However, Facebook has not admitted any wrongdoing as part of the settlement, which must still be approved by a judge in the San Francisco division in the US District Court. In August, Facebook

By Modupe Gbadeyanka With Nigeria as an emerging market in Blockchain technology and Cryptocurrency adoption; SureRemit, a non-cash remittance platform majority-owned by Nigeria based fintech holding company, GreenHouse Capital, has raised $7 million on the initial coin offering (ICO) market. SureRemit is a non-cash remittance platform using blockchain technology to help immigrants earmark and send funds home. Using a digital voucher platform and network of local merchants across African and other emerging markets, SureRemit offers an affordable, non-cash alternative for sending money to family and friends at home. SureRemit charges users 0% transaction fees, making it a cheaper option than

By Modupe Gbadeyanka This week, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc launched its Chat Banking solution, Leo, on WhatsApp and it has been receiving positive reviews from users of the application. In a first for Nigeria, customers can now conduct their favourite banking activities in a secure and convenient manner, by communicating with their bank in a verified WhatsApp chat. According to a statement, this capability was made possible through Clickatell Transact’s .Control platform integrated with the WhatsApp Business API. Clickatell is an authorized WhatsApp Business Solution provider, which came up with the .Control platform for Chat Banking, allowing banks

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The managing director of Arise TV, Ms Ijeoma Nwogwugwu, has resigned and left the broadcast platform four years after she was appointed to the position. Ms Nwogwugwu, a former banker, was appointed as the pioneer MD of the company from ThisDay, where she was the Editor for many years. However, the reason for her resignation has not been made known, but while she headed the organisation, the television station rose to prominence within a short time. Arise TV, established by Mr Nduka Obaigbena, the owner of ThisDay Newspapers, became the toast of viewers in Nigeria because of